American and US Airways’ customers gradually may see higher fares, fewer flights to certain cities — especially smaller ones — and service glitches. American travelers will benefit from routes to more East Coast cities such as Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia, and US Airways customers will gain access to more international destinations. Read more about the consumer expectations from Sheryl Jean here.

Your frequent flier miles will be safe. After the merger is approved, the two airlines will likely combine the miles into one program and elite status from one airline will likely be honored on the other. That puts the occasional traveler closer to rewards.

American’s CEO Tom Horton took over the company on Nov. 29, 2011, the day American filed Chapter 11, and said he’s proud of what the whole company has accomplished since then.

“The balance sheet has been restructured. The costs have been made competitive. We’ve got all new labor contracts,” he said. “We are dramatically transforming the fleet and the product. We have relaunched the brand. And we have made a big merger that will make this company very successful.”

Under the anticipated merger agreement, American’s owners — primarily its creditors — will get at least 72 percent of the new company, and US Airways’ shareholders will get 28 percent. In US Air’s original bid, the smaller carrier would have owned 51 percent of the post-merger airline, Horton said.

Given the current $11 billion market valuation for this deal, every percentage point swing represents between $80 million and $110 million, depending on how the market value plays out.

There are other concessions, Horton said.

American’s creditors should get paid back with money to spare, depending on how the stock trades in the wake of the deal, he said. Any value above that will be distributed to AMR equity holders, who will also get shares in the new American.

So if Horton were writing the headline, it would read: “American acquires US Airways.”

“If this were a stock deal, that’s how it would be positioned,” he said. “It’s going to be located here. It’s going to be the American brand. It’s going to be American’s loyalty program.”

But it won’t be Horton at the top. And that has to sting mightily. He’ll be American’s head cheerleader instead, trying to rally enthusiasm for something he’s been publicly unenthusiastic about.

Horton refuses to go there.

“What’s important now is that the new American has a strong leader backed by a great team,” he said. “My role now is to help ensure that the combination and integration succeed and that the vision of the new American stays on track. I’ll give that all I have.”

Much has been made about whether Horton would become chairman or non-executive chairman of the combined company. His title in the new airline will be non-executive chairman, which means he’ll no longer be a paid employee of the company.

Horton doesn’t expect to stick around too long after the merger gets regulatory blessings and American’s restructuring is made final — a combined process that he expects to take six to nine months.

“At that point, I will have been at this for a couple of years,” Horton said. “That feels like the right sort of tenure for me. I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished what I set out to do.”

The announcement will end more than a year of behind-the-scenes jockeying, which began as a one-sided push for a deal from the smaller US Airways and ended with votes Wednesday by the boards of parent companies AMR and US Airways Group to accept the final terms.

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Terry Maxon writes about items of interest to travelers and the aviation community.